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37 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 27, 2004 Southern Oregon towns get collector rifles By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Central Point doesn’t have a Wal-Mart — yet. It has no community college campus, no water-treatment plant and the U.S. Postal Service has no commemorative stamp that honors the town in the works. But Central Point does have its own commemorative "Special Edition" rifle, a .22-caliber Ruger with the image of an elk on a woody hillside etched into the stock. Never mind that the town is as flat as a paddle and there’s not even an Elk’s Lodge in Central Point, let alone an elk. Medford has its own collector gun, too. Engraved on it is the image of an old Oregon and California Railroad engine, even though commuter trains have been extinct here for decades. And Grants Pass’ city gun sports an engraving of Ulysses S. Grant — despite the fact that Grant never did make it to Grants Pass. Advertisement Oh, you there down in Ashland think this is all funny? Well, you better stop laughing because you’re the next Southern Oregon city to get your own collector gun, whether you like it or not. These commemorative rifles are the product of a Colorado firearms company that is using a unique marketing angle — naming a collector gun after a small city — to sell what it calls low-end collectible rifles to residents of these towns. Officials at Investment Arms Inc., of Fort Collins say they created such guns as their new "City of Central Point Special Edition" firearms and market them to residents of these cities whose demographics they believe generates heirloom-gun sales. "We look for communities where the median income is not astronomically large," says Bill Daley, the company’s "City Ruger Specialist." "They’re ‘average Joe’ towns. That works extremely well for us." Each town has 25 numbered guns, and one un-numbered "proof" gun in the collection. Grants Passers bought all 26 of their special-editions rugers earlier this year, while 17 of the Medford guns have sold since their unveiling in April, Daley says. Central Point’s gun was unveiled in ads last week, and none were sold as of Tuesday. Daley declined to say how much the guns cost, saying only that they cost "less than $1,000," he says. Investment Arms’ Web site declares these city guns cost $600-$800. A standard, non-engraved Ruger 10/22 retails for less than $159. "People don’t buy these guns to shoot tin cans or take to the range or to go hunting," Daley says. "They’re to hang on the wall, like paintings." Most gun collectors pass on them, Daley says. Sales at places like gun shows and National Rifle Association meetings are poor. "You’d think people who are passionate about firearms would be our target," Daley says. "We find that’s not a very high criteria." Most, he says, are first-time gun owners. "It’s passing the heritage," Daley says. "This is just another way of doing it." It’s also another way of irritating people who don’t want someone assigning their town a gun. "There are people who are all over our case because it’s a firearm," Daley says. "One guy complained that it was too small a caliber rifle for his town. "But I get almost as many people calling, adoring what we’re doing as others complaining because it involves a firearm," he says. Investment Arms does not claim that any of its guns are the "official" guns of the towns. The cities targeted by Investment Arms have no say in whether their towns get their own guns, and most cities are unaware of the process. "This isn’t endorsed by us," says Sgt. Steve McGee of the Central Point Police Department. "We didn’t have a clue about this." To create the logos, company designers like Justin Daley, Bill Daley’s son, checks city Web pages about the town’s history, then sends the information to a Montana artist who creates the actual logo, Justin Daley says. "There’s so much available on the Internet," Justin Daley says. "It’s amazing." It’s also bizarre. Steep hillside? Ponderosa Pine? Elk? In Central Point? "I’ve been here almost 28 years and I haven’t run an elk out of town yet," McGee says. Investment Arms has created limited-edition "city guns" for more than 200 towns since starting the program two years ago, with Oregon City the only other Oregon town targeted for these sales, Daley says. But why Medford. Why Central Point? And especially, why Ashland? How does a town that declares itself a Nuclear Free Zone and is known for peace activism get targeted as a gun town? It seems Bill Daley had an old high-school friend in Medford, and he has visited the burgs here and figured Medford-Ashland and collector guns are perfect fits. "I just absolutely love that community," Bill Daley says. "Ashland’s on my list of to-do, but it’s not been done." Maybe Shakespeare’s face will make it on the stock. Or the Lithia Water fountain. How about the plaza’s fire dancers? Or Alex’s marching band from the Fourth of July Parade? Whatever it is, Ashland will get it’s Special Edition "just as fast as I can get my staff to work on it," Bill Daley says. That befuddles Ashland’s Finest, who just don’t see Daley’s logic. "There’s a lot of Ashlands around the country," Ashland police Chief Mike Bianca says. "Do you think they got the right Ashland?" Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities